Zak Hessey was 17 pounds, 6 ounces when his mother Lisa took him to hospital, telling doctors he was a "fussy eater" and not gaining weight.

Doctors said he should weigh 19 pounds, 8 ounces, and advised the mother of five to bulk him up on chips, chocolate and cakes.

When she said no, social workers were called in and her son was put into foster care to assess if his eating improved.

Notice, that instead of trying to find out WHY a child wouldn't eat and is not gaining weight, a probably sign of a health condition (for which a trip to the hospital is usally a good thing) led to her son being taken away by the government.

First, there is the hospital workers who failed this child who placed his health issue squarely on the backs of his parents instead of trying to find other more logical reasons for his low weight. Second, the social workers, upon hearing that a parent refused hospital advice to give junk food to her child, should have slapped the hospital for taking up their time with some trivial and illogical calls.

She is a mother of 5 kids and one was having some weight issues. But, yes, she is a bad mother for a fussy and picky two year old. Most kids at that age get fussy. If they are not aneorexic, then they will eat when hungry.

Granted, two pounds for a 2 year old is a big deal, but couldn't that be within the margin of error? Not everone is created with an average in mind.

(Odd. The whole story seems off. According to standard growth charts, a 24-month old boy should be about 28 pounds. On average. Not 19 pounds. Now, you say, this is England and they probably meant 19 kilograms and not pounds. Wrong again. The growth chart shows Kilograms as well as Pounds. The 50-percentile weight of a 24-month old is about 13 kilograms. It also just seems odd that an English story is using "pounds" instead of kilograms or stones.)

Lisa, 28, and her husband Paul, 48, battled through the courts for four months before they got their son back.

Social workers then admitted in court that the couple, from Bolsover, Derbys, were devoted and loving parents.

Lisa claimed Zak's time in foster care left him a "chocoholic" and only 8 ounces heavier. [ED: Which might again signify some underlying health issue]

"I thought I was doing the right thing going for help when Zak began refusing to eat and lost weight," Zak's mother said. "Instead they basically accused me of neglect."

And, people wonder why some parents don't take their kids to hospitals when they get sick.

BTW, being England, this also explains why the parent didn't take her child to her local doctor. As England is a socialist government-run health care state, more than likely she would not have been able to get an appointment within 6 months. She thought it best for her child to go to a hospital in order to get fast and immediate treatment for what she thought was a serious health issue.

You know the saying about "good intentions". It only gets worse being in socialist nanny-states.